Tongue attachment for sleds.



m."sss,oo2. Patonted Aug. l4, I900. c. n. WATT; TONGUE ATTACHIENT FOB SLEDS.

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[NVENTOR 00021;,

Allan/e mmmw.munno-m UNITED STATES PATENT ()Fmcs.

CHARLES M. W'ATT, HOLT, OHIO.

TONGUE ATTACHMENT FOR SLEDS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 656,002, dated August 14, 1900. Application filed January 19, 1900. Serial No. 2,045. (No model.)

To call whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, CHARLES M. WATT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Holt, in the county of Jefferson and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Tongue Attachments for Sleds; and I do declare the following to be a ful1,clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in tongues for sleds, and particularly to a tongue which may be easily and quickly applied to a sled or removed therefrom by means of adj usting-bolts; and in carrying out my invention I provide a tongue which has a slight longitudinal play in the rack carrying the same, which rack is secured to the sled,whereby the sled may be held back when going downgrade, and by drawing the tongue forward the pin or rod carried by the tongue and working in a slot in the rack will come' forcibly against the end of the slot in which said rod is guided and have a tendency to impart a sudden jerk to the sled for the purpose of starting the same in case it becomes stuck in soft snow or depressions.

The invention resides, further, in the provision of a detachable rack adapted to be secured to a sled, said rack being fastened at a slight inclination to the cross-pieces of the sled and having elongated and registering slots in its side pieces and a tongue having rods or pins secured to the tongue and working in said slots, means being provided to hold the tongue in an upright position when not in use.

To these ends and to such others as the invention may pertain the same consists, further, in the novel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, and then specifically defined in the appended claims.

My invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which, with the letters of reference marked thereon, form part of this application, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved tongue and attachment for sleds. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail View of one of the boxes in which the rods carried by the tongue have a bearing. Fig. 3 is a detail View in section showing parts in elevation. Fig. 4 is a crosssection through the tongue and rack.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, A designates the sled, which may be of any desired construction,having suitable crosspieces A, and B is a rack,

which is composed of two longitudinal strips B,having notchesCandD,thenotchesObeing at the rear ends of said side strips and on their upper edges, while the notches D are onthe under edges of said strips and cut with their walls slightly inclined, so that when said rack is held at an inclination, as shown in the drawings, the upper and lower longitudinal walls of said notches will fit, respectively, flat against the under face of the cross-piece A at the rear end of said strips and the upper face of the foremost cross-piece A, as illustrated. This rack is secured to said crosspieces A by means of the bolts (0. By this arrangement it will be noted that the rack may be easily applied to any sled of ordinary construction by simply boring holes through the cross pieces of the sled and inserting bolts in the manner illustrated and described.

E E are two elongated and registering slots made in the side pieces B, and F is the tongue, which has a rod or pins K mounted therein and extending laterally from the opposite faces of the tongue. The ends of this rod are adapted to work and be guided in said elongated slots in the side pieces B, and the longitudinal movement of said tongue is limited by the length of the slots in which the ends of the rod work. Underneath the rack' B is a cross-piece B under which the rear end of the tongue may be placed when the same is raised at an angle of substantially fortyfive degrees before being pushed back to its rear limit. By this means said tongue. may be held up in an elevated position, and, if desired, said tongue may be raised to a vertical position, thus adjusting the same so that it will be out of the way when the sled is out of use or stored away. Mounted in each of said slots in the strips B is a box M, having a flange M thereon, said boxes adapted to fit the slots and to receive the ends of the rods which work v m the boxes. These boxes are made of metal and are provided to take up the wear which would otherwise come on the edges of the slots. The flange 'to each box covers the; outer marginal edgeof each slot, so as to prevent any water or foreign matter getting into said slots. From the foregoing it will be noted that as the sled is being drawn along on a level there will be a slightplay to the tongue, and on a downward incline the ends of the rods carried by the pole or tongue will bear against the rear ends of the boxes carried in the slots and hold back the sled. When the sled goes into ;a depression or becomes clogged in soft snow, the tongue is drawn forcibly against the forward ends of the boxes in the slots and a jerk is imparted to the sled which will have a tendency to start the same.

A device of the character before described it will be observed may be easily and quickly applied to an ordinary sled and maybe easily removed therefrom. 7

Having thus described my invention, what I claim to be new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with the sled, a rack secured thereto, said rack inclined at an angle to the top of the sled, a tongue having laterally-projecting lugs which worl; in elongated eseeoz slots in said rack, and a cross-piece on the under edge of the rack designed to hold the tongue in an elevated position, as shown and described.

,2. In combination with a sled, a rack composed of two strips which have their upper edges at their rear ends notched, and adapted to fit under one of the cross-pieces of the sled, notches on the under edges of said rack e11- gaging over one of the cross-strips of the sled, and secured by means of bolts thereto, the tongue having laterally-prejecting lugs working elongated slots in said rack, adapted to strike against the opposite ends of the slots to hold back and start the sled as the tongue is held back or drawn forward, as set forth.

The combination with the removable rack adapted to be secured to the sled in the manner described, the flanged metallic boxes seated in elongated registering slots in said rack, the tongue having laterally-projecting lugs designed to work in said boxing,as shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

7 OIIARLES M. \VATT.

Titnesses: Z

MonnEcAI Cox Arvnnnws, JOHN DI Wilson. 

